TRAI alters Mobile Number Portability Rules

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India made changes to the Mobile Number Portability Rules. The ‘MNP’ rules govern the process of mobile number portability, which is a tool for the subscriber to change the service provider without altering the mobile number. It also allows the subscriber to change from one service area to another of the same service provider within the country. The altered rules are expected to make the entire MNP process faster. The regulatory body has approved the timeline of 3 days for port out requests within a service area. For port out requests from one circle to another, the TRAI has set the time-span of 5 working days. The new rules have also changed the validity period of Unique Porting Code or UPC from the current 15 days to the new 4 days period. UPC validity for J&K and the north-east states is for 30 days (same as current validity period). UPC is an 8 character code that enables MNP.